President Park calls for China’s help to punish North Korea’s nuclear test

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 13, 2016, 15:14 Updated : January 13, 2016, 15:14

[Courtesy of Bluehouse]



South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday pressed China to play a key role in imposing strong international sanctions on North Korea for what Pyongyang said was a hydrogen bomb test one week ago.

In a nationally televised news conference, Park said the United States and its allies were working on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on the North, and stressed China’s help is crucial as a permanent member of the council.

"We are cooperating closely with the United States and allies to come up with effective sanctions that will make North Korea feel bone-numbing pain, not only at the Security Council but also bilaterally and multilaterally," she said.

Park said China has stated repeatedly that it would not tolerate the North's nuclear program.
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"I am certain that China is very well aware if such a strong will isn't followed by necessary steps, we will not be able to stop the North's fifth and sixth nuclear tests and we cannot guarantee true peace and stability of the Korean peninsula," she said.

"I believe the Chinese government will not allow the situation on the Korean peninsula to deteriorate further," she said. "The best partners are those that will hold your hand in difficult times."

China is North Korea’s main economic and diplomatic backer, but Beijing is seen unlikely to take steps that might seriously undermine young leader Kim Jong Un's hard-line regime. lapse. .

Park said South Korea will continue its loudspeaker campaign, calling it "the surest and most effective psychological warfare tool."

Since Friday, South Korea has been blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda and K-pop songs from huge speakers along the border, and the North is using speakers of its own in an attempt to keep its soldiers from hearing the South Korean messages.

Park also said the future of the Kaesong joint industrial park between North and South Korea depends on the actions of North Korea.

"Whether or not we take any additional steps in the Kaesong industrial Zone is entirely up to the North," Park said in response to a question on whether the South would considering shutting down the joint project.

In 2013, North Korea briefly shut down the zone entirely in response to sanctions for its third nuclear test. The park, the last major remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, is considered a rare legitimate source of hard currency for the impoverished North.

North Korea’s state media reported on Wednesday that its leader Kim Jung Un called for the "detonation of more powerful H-bomb in the future>’

"(Kim) called for bolstering up both in quality and quantity the nuclear force capable of making nuclear strikes at the U.S.-led imperialists any time and in any space ... if they encroach upon the sovereignty of the DPRK (North Korea) and make threatening provocations," the official KCNA state news agency said.

By Alex Lee
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